Hey there, friends! I know it’s been a while since my last blog post – I’ve taken some time away to birth a new chapter of The Awakened Mumma journey. This time I have been busy with creating a patient education platform (details of this exciting news later!), more advocacy and research. But for now, I wanted to pause and reflect on some important lessons through the lens of being a cancer survivor, six years on from that day that changed everything. Grab a cuppa (hopefully not hospital tea – I’m sure you’ve already had your fair share of those), and let’s chat about this wild journey we call life after cancer, or as I call it, our post-cancer (PC) life.
When Cancer Changed Everything: A Healthcare Professional’s Personal Journey
I still remember the moment that changed everything – sitting in that cold sterile GP office with my 18-month-old and 3-year-old on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland Australia, hearing those words that no one is ever prepared for: “I’m sorry, you have cancer.”
Incredibly (If you’re a cancer patient, you will resonate), I still have the same feeling in my body, that ‘visceral sensation’, when I think about those words and the moment of hearing my diagnosis. This is a normal trauma response, and the body doesn’t forget! If you are a health professional reading this blog (thank you), please note this important learning. Delivering bad news is an art that must be learned and perfected to do it well …. thankfully the GP who delivered my bad news did so with heartfelt empathy and understanding. Thanks again Dr Marie!
As a nurse with over 18 years of experience at the time, I thought that I had understood, in general terms, what cancer patients went through. But nothing in my university courses or in the on-the-job training could have prepared me for experiencing it firsthand.
At 38 years old, with two little ones at home, my bowel cancer diagnosis turned our world upside down. As both a healthcare professional and a mum, I found myself navigating two contradictory roles – the working caregiver, who had suddenly become the patient. There was no prep, no gentle introduction, and certainly no manual. Yet this is the scenario that so many Australians find themselves in each week. I’m not special, unique, lucky or unlucky – it just is what it is!
Navigating Cancer Treatment: Beyond Medical Knowledge
Before I continue, I want to provide a disclaimer on cancer terminology – if you are personally writing about or describing your own story – go for gold, and use the words that you align and resonate with. That is your chapter to share. However, for my health professional and policy writing colleagues – I highly suggest that you work with a diverse consumer group to ensure that your language is inclusive and contemporary.
The journey (yes, I resonate with the word journey) through cancer treatment is a maze of challenges that no textbook or even first-hand nursing experience can fully prepare you for. Because caring for, versus being cared for, are two completely different experiences. There were countless conversations explaining my condition to my inner circle, and the overwhelming task of managing treatment while being a mum to two young children, that I could not appreciate until I was living the life of a cancer patient. Still to this day, parenting while healing was the hardest thing that I have ever done. But you know what – I did it, and if you’re reading this as a newly diagnosed parent of young children……. You can too!
A surprisingly huge challenge actually came after my physical recovery. That’s when everyone (family, friends, colleagues, society) expects you to bounce back to “normal” and “just get on with it”- but those of us who have walked this road know there’s no going back to the old normal. Instead, we must pave a new road, which can initially be messy, rocky, and full of potholes. This is the time when we need excellent advice from trusted mentors and teachers.
Critical Gaps in Cancer Support and Education: During and After Cancer
Despite my extensive nursing background, cancer taught me many humbling lessons about recovery that no medical training had covered. As both a cancer survivor and healthcare professional, I’ve discovered several crucial realities about cancer recovery that rarely get discussed
- Recovery Isn’t Linear The end of treatment isn’t the finish line – it’s often just the beginning. While everyone expects you to celebrate and move on, many patients in survivorship experience their deepest emotional challenges after treatment ends. The pressure to “get back to normal” can be overwhelming when you’re still processing what you’ve been through. Whether there’s a pressure to return to normal life from yourself, family, community, work or society – it’s there.
- The Mental Impact Can Last Longer Than Physical Recovery While your body is (hopefully) healing, the mental and emotional aftermath of cancer can persist. ‘Scanxiety’ (the anxiety before check-ups), fear of recurrence, and processing the trauma of diagnosis and treatment are often ongoing challenges that deserve attention and support – if you want to thrive in this next chapter of your life. Many cancer patients find these psychological aspects harder to navigate than the physical recovery. I would not have been able to understand this, without being a cancer patient myself.
- Contradictory Nutritional Advice Even as a healthcare professional, I was lost in the contradictory online advice about what to eat during and after recovery. Did I need to transition to vegan, paleo, carnivore, sugar free, wheat free, grain free? Was I getting enough protein, vitamins and minerals? Don’t get me started on mould and other household toxins. If you allow it, it’s easy to think that most of your food and household products are leading you to an early death. While there are some definite do’s and don’ts – allowing the stress of ‘getting it wrong’ to consume you can be just as damaging.
- Your Body’s Relationship with Food Changes Completely It’s not just about eating healthy – your entire relationship with food often needs to be rebuilt. Treatment can alter taste buds, trigger new intolerances, and create anxiety around certain foods. What worked for your body before cancer might not work anymore, and that’s okay. Learning to trust food again is a journey in itself. But now, you also need to eat to reduce your risk of recurrence. You have been given some inside knowledge and perhaps a universal ‘tip off’, that things in your life need to change – this includes your diet. This is a positive – this is an opportunity.
- What about Reducing Risk of Recurrence There was little ‘routine’ health professional guidance about how to use nutrition to support recovery and reduce recurrence risk.
- Reducing treatment side effects The connection between evidence-based nutrition and managing treatment side effects is not adequately shared in traditional patient education.
- Nutritional advice for bowel cancer patients is often lacking We need specific advice on staged diet upgrades (often over months), instructions to manage both constipation and stool frequency, advice on what is and isn’t normal – and who to contact (and when) for expert advice. Managing fibre intake can be an art form!
- Your Social Circle Might Change Cancer has a way of reshuffling relationships. Some friends might disappear, while others step up, often in unexpected ways. You might find yourself connecting more with fellow cancer patients who understand your experience (AKA ‘the shit storm’, and life rebuilding), while struggling to relate to old friends. You are not the same person – and that is OK, and in fact essential.
- Your ‘New Normal’ Requires Active Creation Recovery isn’t about getting back to who you were – it’s about creating a new version of yourself that incorporates your cancer experience. This might mean adjusting career goals, developing new wellness practices, reordering priorities, reimagining your lifestyle, bringing in new boundaries (one of my favourites), and reassessing your personal WHAT and WHY for this life. It’s about building a new life framework that honours who you were and who you’ve become. Again, this is an opportunity….but it takes time and an understanding community.
A New Chapter: The Birth of The NutraThrive Collective
Remember how I mentioned a new chapter? Well, here is one of the pieces! All of these experiences and lessons learned haven’t just sat quietly in my journal – they’ve transformed into something I’m incredibly proud to share with you.
Together with the incredible Associate Professor Teresa Mitchell-Paterson (a brilliant Clinical Nutritionist who’s also walked the cancer path), we’ve created The NutraThrive Collective. Think of it as the support program we desperately wished we had during our own recoveries – but with way better snacks, an incredible community, expert mentors, and absolutely no hospital tea! This is the program that cancer patients have been asking for.
We’ve combined my nursing experience, lived experience and advocacy expertise, with Teresa’s esteemed teaching, academic, and cancer nutrition expertise to create something unique for the cancer community. It’s not another “eat this, not that” program – it’s an evidenced-based comprehensive support system that understands the real challenges of life after cancer. From managing those weird food fears that nobody talks about, to rebuilding your relationship with your body, to learning to thrive with other like-minded people after cancer- we’ve got you covered.
Whether you are a current patient, past patient, or a loved one – we walk the path to wellness with you. We are here to support and guide you in your next life chapter after a cancer diagnosis.
Want to Know More?
If anything in this blog post resonates with you, or if you’re currently navigating life after cancer and feeling a bit lost (trust me, I’ve been there!), I’d love to connect. You can learn more about The NutraThrive Collective and our evidence-based approach to thriving after cancer at http://www.thenutrathrivecollective.com. We’re also on Instagram [@nutrathrive_collective] where we share tips, support, and the occasional terrible cancer recovery joke (because sometimes you just need to laugh!).
Remember, your cancer life doesn’t end with treatment, but neither does your story of healing and new beginnings. Whether you’re currently undergoing treatment, in recovery, navigating life after cancer, or supporting a loved one through their cancer recovery, know that there is hope, there is support, and there’s a whole community of survivors ready to welcome you.
Until next time (and I promise it won’t be as long between posts!),
Sally Kriel, AKA The Awakened Mumma xx
Sally-Anne Kriel is a Masters Qualified Registered Nurse, Healthcare Consultant, and National Cancer Wellbeing Advocate. Her work in cancer advocacy and support has earned her a nomination for the prestigious 2024 Jeannie Ferris Recognition Award. Through her personal experience and professional expertise, she continues to champion for better cancer care and support systems for survivors and their families.